Emily Damari, an Israeli-British hostage, recounts 471 days of unimaginable cruelty inside Hamas tunnels — and issues a powerful plea to rescue the 50 still held.
In her first full interview since her release, 29-year-old Emily Damari, a dual Israeli-British citizen, revealed the unthinkable: 471 days in Hamas captivity, spent in foul, sweltering underground cages, physically wounded and psychologically tormented — but never broken.
“Come on already! What is taking so long?” she demanded, her voice rising with urgency for the 50 hostages still trapped.
🔫 Captured at Gunpoint, Wounded in Body — Not in Spirit
Emily’s ordeal began on October 7, 2023, at Kfar Aza kibbutz, when Hamas terrorists stormed her room. Her best friend, Gali Berman, and her dog, Choocha, lay beside her.
“They shot my hand. The same bullet went through my dog. Choocha died. Then they dragged me out — I saw my home in flames, bodies everywhere.”
Shot in the hand and leg, she was dragged into Gaza, bleeding and in shock. A terrorist offered to take her to “a hospital.” Realizing it wouldn’t be Israeli, she screamed:
“Shoot me! Shoot me!” — preferring death over what came next.
🚨 “Cages of Hell”: Life in Hamas Tunnels
What followed defied imagination.
- Tiny cages: 2×2 meters, holding up to six people.
- Fetid conditions: A hole in the ground as a toilet, cockroaches crawling across damp concrete.
- Stifling heat: No ventilation, no light, just silence.
- Hunger and thirst: “Not a lot of water. It was unimaginably hot.”
Emily, already wounded, had two fingers amputated by a man she calls “Dr. Hamas” at Al-Shifa Hospital, who smirked as he operated.
🧠 Mental Torture and Moments of Resistance
Separated from the Berman twins, Gali and Ziv, early in captivity, she still believes they are alive — but suffering.
“They’re probably in cages too… They’re abusing them.”
Emily and fellow hostage Romi Gonen made a suicide pact, driven to despair by a Gazan family hosting their captors who told them:
“Nobody cares about you.”
Yet Emily fought back — mentally, emotionally, and even physically:
- She once persuaded a guard to hand her a weapon — and considered killing him.
- She exercised daily, doing hundreds of sit-ups, earning her the nickname “John Cena” from guards.
- She refused to wear red for her release:
“Tell your commander, Emily Damari doesn’t wear red.”
🕊️ Release, Recovery — and a Plea for the Forgotten 50
Freed on January 19, 2025, along with 32 others, Emily’s reunion with her mother made global headlines. She now undergoes multiple reconstructive surgeries, but her eyes remain fixed on the future:
“You saved my life — now save Gali and Ziv. Save all of them.”
She calls on U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to act decisively.
“Only when the last 50 are free can we begin to heal.”
